POEM OF GRATITUDE UPON CEASING MY GOD-LIKE BEHAVIOR

Thank you for summer
and the loose-jointed way I walk when it’s hot
I know it’s not becoming

Thanks for the cat
pressing his paw over ants in the patio cracks
the former me would stop him

Thanks for the way I slept last night
deep and long, uncaring
and thank you for the fire we’ll build tonight
it will singe moths and mosquitoes

This world is your doing
and finally I will not apologize
for letting it be done.


~Anne Piper